Hanging By A Moment
by Darkchilde
Summary: Sequel to "Here With Me". Ah, awkwardness--no teenager would be complete without it...


Disclaimer: Not mine, all Disney's. "Hanging By a Moment" belongs to Lifehouse, and is a completely awesome song!! It's one of my favorites! *grin* Anyway, this is the story that actually kicked off my little songfic fetish (it's actually the third one in the quartet, but it's the first one I wrote--so strange...) So, um...anyway...I hope you like it, and with out further ado...

Hanging By A Moment 

Jamie Waite stared across the hallway, his dark brown eyes following _her_ every move. 

He couldn't get enough of her--the way she walked, the way she talked, the way she smiled, the way her hazel eyes could see right through to the center of his soul with just a look. Right now, however, her soul-searing eyes were focused on her locker, as she searched through the contents for something. 

And he was free to gaze at her, to look his fill, without worrying about making her feel awkward. 

'Friends.' 

The one word in the entire human language that held the power to rip apart his soul, shatter his heart, break him with a single utterance. 

'Friends.' 

That's all they were, all they would ever be. Friends. 

Not that he minded--hey, it was better then nothing. But sometimes, late at night, early in the morning, in the afternoon, as the sun set over the hills...he wished for more. 

__

Desperate for changing   
Starving for truth   
Closer where I started   
Chasing after you 

Catie Roth could fell _his_ eyes on her, watching her as she rifled through the contents of her locker, searching in vain for her Spanish homework. 

She looked up, into the tiny mirror that she had hung on the inside of her locker door. She could see him there, leaning against the locker, one arm slung across his chest in the classic 'rebel' pose. She could see his deep brown eyes, locked on her, burning with something she dared not put a name to--because naming it would give her hope. 

Hope that one day he would see through her words, through her declarations of simple friendship, and see what really burned inside. 

Lust. Need. Hunger. Desire. But most of all--love. She loved him, loved him like she had never loved anyone before in her life. He made her smile, he made her _happy._

She loved him.

And everyday, everyday she saw him, saw his beautiful burning dark eyes, she simply feel deeper and deeper into the bottomless void she had began to tumble headlong into the moment she had looked into those soulful brown eyes. 

__

I'm falling even more in love with you   
Letting go of all I've held onto   
I'm standing here until you make me move   
I'm hanging by a moment here with you   


Catie finally produced her homework from her locker, holding it up to examine it in the fluorescent lights that illuminated the hallway of Kingsport High. Deciding that this was indeed the homework due today, the young woman turned on her heel, and feel into the warm dark depths of Jamie's eyes. 

"Uh...Jamie. Hey." Catie tried to cover, reaching back to push a lock of hair out of her face nervously. She suddenly felt gangly and gawky, and found herself wishing that she could be as calm and cool as Val normally was in these positions. 

"Hi Catie." He responded, forcing the surge of emotion that bubbled to the surface at the first glance of her beautiful eyes back. Jamie pushed a smile onto his face, and fought the urge to run his fingers through his spiky black hair, a nervous habit that his mother swore was the real reason behind his nearly uncontrollable hair. 

"What's up?" She asked after a moment, the awkward silence hovering between them startling and scaring her. 

"Umm...not to much, ya know." Jamie mumbled, looking down at his feet, wishing he could make the words come quicker and make more sense when he said them. Damnit, it had never been this hard to talk to Catie, why, now that he knew how he really felt about her, was it so hard to open his mouth and just _talk_?

"Yeah." Catie looked down at her feet, chewing on the inside of her lip. She fidgeted slightly, looking down at her sleeve and picking some imaginary lint from her black velvet dress. She felt, rather then saw Jamie's eyes follow her movement, and she kept her eyes diverted, a blush threatening to bloom on her cheeks. 

__

Forgetting all I'm lacking   
Completely and complete   
I'll take your invitation   
You take all of me   


"So...umm...what are you doing after to school today?" Jamie asked, and then mentally kicked himself. Did that sound like a cheesy pick-up line, or what? Come on, Waite, he mentally coached himself, you can do better then THAT. 

"Not to much...I'm...uh...you know...doing...stuff." Stuff?! What kind of answer was STUFF!? Catie yelled at herself, wanting to smack herself in the head. She was a freaking writer for crying out loud, and she couldn't come up with a better word then STUFF? 

"Oh. Yeah, me too." Jamie covered his sudden panging despair quickly with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. She must have a date--with a GUY. And she didn't want to tell him about it, because she knew that he was completely in love with her and would never love another the way he loved her, and she was trying to spare him the heartbreaking news that she could never see him as anything more then a friend! 

Him too? What was he doing after school, he wasn't on call, what could he be doing? Oh lord, what if he was seeing another girl? I bet he is, an obnoxious little voice in the back of her head whispered--I bet he's seeing a tall, blonde girl with bright blue eyes who giggles at everything he says, and bats her eyelashes and likes to wear tube tops. 

The sudden surge of jealous that shot through Catie momentarily flashed in her eyes, and she averted them quickly, hoping that Jamie hadn't noticed. Thankfully, he was to lost in his own inner torment to notice the green eyed monster that flashed in her eyes. 

__

Now.. I'm falling even more in love with you   
Letting go of all I've held onto   
I'm standing here until you make me move   
I'm hanging by a moment here with you   


Smile idiot, Jamie yelled at himself, forcing another fake smile onto his face. Act like your happy for her--or do you want to loose her friendship as well? 

No! The little voice screamed back, horror coloring it's words. But I want to be MORE then just friends...

Jamie calmly forced the thought out of his head, and turned his attention back to whatever Catie was saying, hoping that he could catch up quickly, so he wouldn't make her mad by making her think that he wasn't listening to her. 

But Catie wasn't saying anything. She was to busy seething at the mental image of the pretty blonde her subconscious had made up (who, oddly enough, looked a LOT like Val) wrapped around Jamie. 

HER Jamie. 

He was HERS! Didn't that dumb blonde know anything?!

"Catie?" Jamie asked, startling the angry brunette out of her thoughts. 

"What?!" She snapped, the word coming out harsher then she had intended it to. Jamie almost visibly flinched, and Catie could have kicked herself. If she REALLY wanted him to see what was inside of her, then she couldn't be mean to him--that really would drive him into 'Jennifer's' (her name for the giggling blonde her mind had created) arms. 

"Sorry." He apologized, holding his hands up in the universal sign for 'I surrender'. 

"No, I'm sorry. I was, just you know...thinking." Catie apologized as well, blowing out a gust of air in frustration. 

"Must not have been happy-happy thoughts." Jamie teased her lightly, pulling the barest hint of a smile out of Catie. 

"You have no idea." Catie mentally shuddered at the image of what 'Jennifer' and Jamie were doing in her mind. 

__

I'm living for the only thing i know  
I'm running and not quite sure where to go  
I don't know what I'm diving into  
Just hanging by a moment here with you  


"So...uh...are you doing anything, you know, tonight?" Jamie asked, and cursed himself again. Could he NOT start a conversation with Catie WITHOUT it sounding like the lamest pick-up line on the planet? 

"Nah. Probably just go home and mope." The words were out of her mouth before she really realized what she was saying. When her words echoed back in her ears, the girl winced, and wanted, again, to smack herself. Would she never learn to THINK before she opened her mouth?! 

"Mope? About what? Your Spanish grade?" Jamie asked, his eyes falling on her homework. He grinned at her indignant squawk, dodging the light hit she aimed at his shoulder. 

"I'll have you know that my Spanish grade does not need to be moped over." Catie assured him. Then her expression became, on what anyone else would have been dubbed 'sheepish', and her mouth turned up at the corners. "It's my history grade that reserves that honor..." 

Jamie chuckled, running his long fingers through his dark hair and shaking his head. "Well, I would be GLAD to help you..." 

"But your grade is worse then mine!" Catie laughed, rolling her eyes, all traces of the rage that had just been burning through her gone. 

__

There's nothing left to lose   
Nothing left to fly   
There is nothing in the world that can change my mind   
There is nothing else   
There is nothing else..   


Jamie nodded in agreement, trying to pull his mouth into a frown. However, the laughter he was struggling to contain refused to be stopped, and came bubbling out, his laughter ringing in the hallway. 

"Gee, thanks Catie." He finally managed to choke out, and the brunette shrugged, her dark eyes laughing. 

"Well, it's true." 

"Umm...yeah, good point. Though you have to admit, I'm doing better! I mean...I did get a B plus on that one test..." Jamie trailed off, lifting his eyebrows and grinning, pointing at her. 

"Ooh, I'm SO impressed." Catie laughed, pushing her hair behind her ear. 

"You should be!" Jamie defended himself, his lips turning up into a grin. Before Catie could say anything in response though, the bell rung, and the milling throng in the hallway began to move toward their next class. 

"Ugh--class bad." The young man moaned, sighing. 

"Totally, caveman." Catie laughed, poking him in the chest. 

"Me Jamie--you Catie." Jamie laughed back, making Catie giggle even harder. He just shook his head, waving toward the pretty brunette and heading down the hall, looking back over his shoulder occasionally.

Catie flashed a goodbye smile to Jamie and began to walk down the hallway the opposite, really wishing that she and Jamie were heading in the same direction--in more ways then one. 

Halfway to her next class, someone dropped into step beside her, and Catie jerked her head up, ready to whack whoever it was with her purse. For the second time in the past five minutes, Catie found herself lost in Jamie's wonderfully dark eyes. 

He didn't say anything, and she didn't either, both just reveling in the feeling of being together, at least for a little while longer. 

__

I'm falling even more in love with you   
letting go of all I've held onto   
I'm standing here until you make me move   
I'm hanging by a moment here with you   


Val Linear and Tyler Connell were talking about nothing in particular, just looking for an excuse to be together, as they headed toward their sociology class. Every once in awhile, one would shoot a glance at the other one out of the corner of their eye, but then look away quickly, for fear that the other one would catch them looking. 

They had fallen into a natural lull in the conversation, when Val's bright blue eyes landed on her best friend and her fellow squad member. Walking down the hallway together, so close they might as well have been holding hands. 

She watched as every so often, either Jamie or Catie would shoot a glance at the other one, and then look away, as if embarrassed. A smile pulled at Val's lips, as her natural matchmaking instincts took over. 

"Hey, look, there's Catie and Jamie." Tyler spoke up, a split second before Val could say anything. Then he blinked, and looked back at Val, a frown knitting his handsome brow. "That's odd." 

"What's odd? Catie and Jamie? You know Tyler, they are really good friends. It shouldn't be THAT odd to see them together." Val reminded him, smiling slightly. 

"Yeah I know--it's just that Jamie's got French this period with Hank, and that's on the opposite side of the building." 

__

I'm living for the only thing i know  
I'm running and not quite sure where to go  
I don't know what I'm diving into  
Just hanging by a moment here with you  
Just hanging by a moment   
Hanging by a moment..   
Hanging by a moment...   
Hanging by a moment here with you..  



End file.
